ANOTHER COURT VICTORY FOR ZIM GAYS
Zimbabwe’s leading LGBT rights group gets to continue to operate following another court victory. A Harare magistrate has thrown out charges against Martha Tholanah, the chairperson of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), of operating the organisation illegally. She was charged, after a raid on the organisation’s offices in August 2012, with contravening the Private Voluntary Organisation (PVO) Act, […]
YEE-HAW! TEXAS GAY MARRIAGE BAN STRUCK DOWN
The judiciary across America is increasingly agreeing that state same-sex marriage bans cannot be justified. On Wednesday, US District Judge Orlando Garcia ruled that outlawing marriage for lesbian and gay couples in the deeply conservative Southern state of Texas is unconstitutional. He called the state’s voter imposed ban on same-sex marriage “state-imposed inequality” and said […]
RELIEF: ARIZONA GOVERNOR VETOES ANTI-GAY RELIGIOUS BILL
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has vetoed a bill that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians on the basis of “religious freedom.” The appalling piece of legislation was recently passed by the Republican dominated state legislature and was then sent to the governor for her approval or veto. If made law, it […]
CAN STRAIGHT MEN LIP SYNCH?
We’ve all been entertained by drag performers lip synching (sometimes with aplomb, often embarrassingly) to a variety of camp classics. And who can forget the vast line up of past contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race dramatically “lip synching for their lives…” But straight men rarely get the privilege to do the same in public. It […]
US HATE PASTOR’S LIES BEHIND UGANDAN GAY BILL
The Guardian has highlighted the appalling influence of American evangelists on anti-gay laws in Uganda. The newspaper’s website has posted an excerpt from Roger Ross Williams’ documentary God Loves Uganda, which depicts one of the worst offenders, Scott Lively in action. It features undercover video taken by Boston-based Anglican priest, Kapya Kaoma, which shows Lively […]
MOSCOW GAY SPORTS EVENT HIT BY CANCELLATIONS
A Russian gay sports festival, meant to have started in Moscow today, has been beset by a sudden rash of last minute venue cancellations that has put the event at risk. Organised by the Russian LGBT Sport Federation, the first Open Games aims to promote “healthy lifestyles, physical activity and sports among the LGBT community […]
ANC BLOCKS MOTION CONDEMNING UGANDA ANTI-GAY BILL
The DA says that the ANC blocked its motion in Parliament on Tuesday to condemn the Anti-Homosexuality Bill signed into law by Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni on Monday. According to Sandy Kalyan, DA Deputy Chief Whip, ANC MPs heckled her when she raised the issue in the House, “illustrating their brazen insensitivity if not support […]
RELIEF AS ZAMBIAN ACTIVIST ACQUITTED IN FREE SPEECH CASE
Well-know Zambian human rights and HIV activist Paul Kasonkomona has been acquitted of charges of speaking out on television in support of LGBT equality. Kasonkomona (38) was arrested in April last year as he left a Lusaka television studio after making comments on live television supporting the rights of LGBT people and sex workers. He […]
WITCH-HUNT OF GAYS BEGINS IN UGANDA
Following the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda on Monday, the notorious Red Pepper tabloid has published the names of what it claims are 200 gay people. Under a front page headline “EXPOSED!” the newspaper said it was naming “Uganda’s 200 top homos.” While some of those listed are well-known LGBT activists such as […]
1ST CUTS IN AID TO UGANDA OVER ANTI-GAY LAW
A wave of international condemnation has followed the enactment of Uganda’s new anti-homosexuality law, with at least two nations suspending financial aid to the country in protest. On Monday, President Museveni defiantly signed the legislation into law. He later told CNN that gay people “are disgusting.” “I never knew what they were doing I was […]